10 ‘Healthy’ Foods That Aren’t

MANILA, PHILIPPINES: Filipino vendor Alan Junsay of the Hen Queen shop prepares to chop charcoal grilled chicken stuffed with herb spices for his customers from his store in Manila 02 February 2004, as the country remains unaffected by the birds flu epidemic rampaging in other Asian countries. Authorities guaranteed the local poultry is safe for consumption while at the same time President Gloria Arroyo have earlier ordered strict quarantine on inbound poultry products to protect the public from avian influenza. The store popular tasty grilled chicken sells for 130 pesos (USD 2.30). AFP PHOTO ROMEO GACAD (Photo: Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images)(Photo: Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images)

Many popular restaurants offer healthy-sounding dishes that are packed with calories, fat and sodium. David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding of Yahoo Health compiled this list of 10 “wannabe” healthy foods that may fool you when it comes time to order, taken from the forthcoming Eat This, Not That! 2012 Edition.

The 400-calorie bun certainly doesn’t help. Neither does the thick layer of cheese and generous splashes of oil. The guys at Yahoo Health recommend that you should only order the large sub if your goal is to become large yourself.

The culprit on this item is the full-fat mayo and lots of oil. Otherwise, this thing would be pretty good for you! The guys at Yahoo Health recommend you go with the half size of a lighter sandwich like their Rotisserie Chicken Carver and shave off about 700 calories.

Smoothies CAN be a healthy treat, but the mega-sized cup and 200 calories of extra sugar turn this smoothie into a belly bomb. Instead, the experts at Yahoo Health recommend smoothies that contain only fruit, protein powder and maybe a little honey for natural sweetening.

Mmm, everybody loves dip – creamy, cheesy, fatty dip. Just a few bites of a cream- or cheese-based restaurant dip and you’re quickly at your limit of saturated fat for the day… even before your entree arrives at the table! Instead, Yahoo Health recommends you get the pan-seared crab cakes and save yourself about 1,000 calories.

It’s GRILLED, it’s gotta be healthy right? Well, it would be if not for the triple dose of high-fat sauce (spicy rum sauce, sour cream and “extra dipping sauce”.) Go for their Jack Daniel’s Chicken with broccoli and fruit and cut your calories in half.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the quickest way to make an otherwise healthy salad a big bowl of fat is to drench it with blue cheese dressing. The guys at Yahoo Health recommend CPK’s Field Greens salad with grilled shrimp instead for about a third of the calories.

Cheesecake Factory is notorious for frying or breading many of their dishes or coating them in fattening sauces. But they have added a low-calorie version of the classic Herb Crusted Salmon that is good for your waist.

Grilled meat and vegetables, what’s the problem? First, the flour tortillas are a few hundred unnecessary calories added onto the dish. Then, the common practice in restaurants of grilling with tons of oil, butter and salt convert what could be a healthy dish into a not-so-healthy one.